Kent Bush: Covering up reporter's kidnapping a risky move

Wednesday

Jun 24, 2009 at 12:01 AMJun 24, 2009 at 1:00 PM

Just because you take an action and a result follows, does not necessarily mean that the action taken precipitated the result. Blatantly using slippery slope logic - while it is wonderful for justifying questionable positions and actions - isn't the most intellectually honest course of action.

Kent Bush

Just because you take an action and a result follows, does not necessarily mean that the action taken precipitated the result.

Blatantly using slippery slope logic - while it is wonderful for justifying questionable positions and actions - isn't the most intellectually honest course of action.

If a county votes to legalize liquor by the drink and DUI arrests increase the following year, logic does not state that liquor by the drink led to the results. Did the sheriff start a new program to keep roads safer? Did several new bars open in the county? Too many factors are involved to pinpoint only one - even if it appears to make sense and fits your argument.

Journalists are struggling with just such a quandary thanks to the successful escape of David Rohde, a reporter for The New York Times who was kidnapped by Taliban forces seven months ago.

You may have heard about it by now. But unless you worked for the Times or had close friends in upper management there, you didn't know anything about it until he escaped.

Now that he escaped safely, the question of the ethics of the cover-up is muddied. The end result is far more palatable than the Daniel Pearl kidnapping that culminated in a very highly publicized beheading.

Those involved in keeping this kidnapping out of the public eye use Rohde's well-being to excuse their actions, as if the journalistic silence is somehow responsible for every breath he takes. If he had been killed after four months in captivity, would that same silence have been responsible.

I understand the premise.

Allocating more publicity to kidnappers gives them both a platform and leverage in the negotiations. But couldn't withholding that publicity add to their frustration and lead them to kill a hostage to make a point?

Thankfully, Rohde can be used as a success story for how the kidnapping of a journalist should be handled. But I think some involved may be at risk of more than a sprained elbow from straining to pat themselves on the back.

Were other journalists in the region put at greater risk since they were kept unaware of the band of marauders who were kidnapping journalists in the area? Was keeping Rohde safe put above the safety of those journalists still taking the risk of reporting from the area?

What about the primary responsibility of news agencies to report important events in a timely and accurate manner? Certainly, in the case of keeping a victim safe, that responsibility takes a back seat.

I am just not convinced that we have established that as fact.

Rohde is alive. If it is because his kidnapping escaped the headlines, then a celebration is in order. But the affect of the media blackout will be hard to quantify, and thus justify.

For now, the ends appear to justify the means.

But there will be another chapter in this discussion. What if a rock star wants a story buried because publication would endanger them? What if the banker's wife is kidnapped? Will the media participate in the blackout on that information and hope for the best.

This is a tough job. Fairness is one of the key elements of good reporting.

When decisions are literally life and death, it is hard to question the actions of those involved. But that difficulty does not preclude the fact that precedent is set and this case will lead to requests for broader application of the ability to avoid publication.

A part of me is just glad he is alive and good news found its way into the headlines. A deeper part worries about what lengths we will go to in order to achieve desired results.

Augusta Gazette

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